Monday, September 19, 2011

Psalm 14 - A Study in Contrast

This psalm is pretty much the opposite of Psalm 8, which proclaims how glorious man is. In stark contrast, Psalm 14 exposes how foolish and corrupt man is. This contradiction serves to clarify the depth of how far man has fallen.

Psalm 8

Psalm 14

Verse 1

How majestic and glorious is God’s
name

Verse 1

Fools say there is no God

Verse 2

God has ordained praise to silence
foes

Verses 2 and 3

God notices that no one seeks him –
they

Verse 3

God’s works are awe-inspiring

Verses 6 and 7

He needs to be a refuge and restore
his people

Verse 4

What is man?

Verses 1 -7

Corrupt and evil!

Verse 5

Man is glorious, made in God’s image
and rules over Earth

Verse 1

Man is corrupt and vile – no one is
good

Verse 9

How majestic is God’s name

Verse 5

He is present with the righteous

I think I can summarize like this:

How majestic and glorious is God's name? And yet, fools say there is no God. These fools are evildoers, but the Lord has ordained praise to silence them. Unfortunately, mankind has turned aside and no longer seeks God.

Since God is capable of such awe-inspiring works, he needs to restore his people and provide refuge to them. Mankind is in need of this refuge because they have become corrupt and evil. The same mankind that God has created to be glorious, made in his image, has become corrupt and vile. Now good is left in them.

But still, God is majestic and has everything under control. He is present with the righteous in the midst of all the chaos, corruption, and evil.

Want to know the scariest part of all this? I can be described more aptly by corruption and evil than by glory and majesty most of the time. It's not like I'm constantly purposefully denying God or choosing a path apart from him, but I'm not purposefully choosing him, either. I want to be one of the people who seeks God, not one that has turned away.